Most of the moisturizing lotions and ointments commonly used to treat and protect mammalian skin consist of oil-in-water emulsions and creams, water-in-oil emulsions and, to a lesser degree, simply 100% oil formulations. These compositions generally use oils as the main ingredient with lesser amounts of humectants. The oils are selected from a large group of commercially available, cosmetically accepted oils, which are generally recognized by the cosmetic industry as having emollient properties. As a whole, these products either do not allow or do not enhance the ability of adhesive products, such as medical tapes, to adhere over skin to which they have been applied.
According to the present invention, it has been discovered that certain oil-soluble acrylate polymers, alone or in combination with conventional moisturizing oils, in oil-in-water or water-in-oil emulsions, provide substantive (i.e., they are not readily removed by simple abrasion or water assault) skin treatments which enhance the ability of pressure sensitive adhesives to adhere to the treated skin.
Oil-soluble acrylate polymers have been used heretofore in treatments for skin. For example, acrylate polymers have been used in sunscreening compositions of the oil or water-in-oil type to reduce removal of the sunscreening agent from the skin by swimming or perspiration (U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,122); in skin moisturizing compositions (U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,755); with medicaments for topical application to the skin (U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,579); and in mosquito repellent compositions (U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,256).
Other cosmetic compositions containing oil-soluble acrylate polymers include make-up compositions such as lip rouges, mascaras and eyeliners (U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,105; Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 54-151139; and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 55-130907).
Water-in-oil emulsion composition for skin treatment containing low molecular weight oil-soluble acrylate copolymers as emulsifying agents are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,057,622; 4,057,623; 4,057,624; 4,128,634; 4,128,635; 4,128,636. However, prior to the present invention, it had not been recognized that certain oil-soluble acrylate polymers can provide skin treatment compositions which enhance the ability of pressure sensitive adhesives to adhere to skin. When these oil-soluble acrylate polymers are used with emollient oils in oil-in-water or water-in-oil emulsions, the result is a skin treatment which provides not only long lasting skin moisturizing effects but the unexpected property that pressure sensitive adhesives will adhere to them.